


Her Step Forward

by LadyAnidala



Series: Her Step Forward AU [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Anakin Skywalker Doesn't Turn to the Dark Side, Brotherly Love, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/M, Fix-It, Human Disaster Anakin Skywalker, Last minute fix-it, Mentioned Qui-Gon Jinn, Mentioned Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious, Mentioned Yoda (Star Wars), Obi-Wan knows about Bogano, Please go to Force therapy Anakin, Whew boi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:35:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28071066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyAnidala/pseuds/LadyAnidala
Summary: In the galaxy far, far away that we know and love, Anakin Skywalker fell to the Dark Side, leaving destruction and death in his wake.In another galaxy slightly closer, yet still far, far away, the wife of Anakin Skywalker took a step forward on Mustafar, not backward.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Series: Her Step Forward AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2065821
Comments: 12
Kudos: 72





	Her Step Forward

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer - I do not own Star Wars in any way, shape, or form. Any dialogue found in this piece that comes from Star Wars belongs to Lucasfilm, not me.

“Stop! Stop now, come back! I love you!”

Anakin’s eyes radiated a murderous gleam as he glared at something behind her.

“Liar!”

Padmé turned her head, a gasp of horror escaping her mouth as she realized Obi-Wan stood on her ship.

Anakin stalked forward, "You're with him! You brought him here to kill me!"

“No!” she denied, flying to her husband. Obi-Wan started his descent down the ramp.

Her hands came to the sides of Anakin’s face, fingers desperately entwinning in his hair, her bump just brushing against him. She pulled his face back to her, willing him to tear his eyes away from his Master. Tears streamed down her face, but she opened her mouth, pleading with the Force to let him see reason.

“Anakin! Anakin, look into my mind! I couldn’t lie to you about this, look! Please!” Padmé sobbed, hoping against hope that her husband was rational enough to try.

Anakin stopped, his anger held at bay for a moment. Padmé was adamant about him not using the Force to read her mind. She had always wanted her privacy. She never wanted to be picked apart by her husband at the end of a long day.

The Jedi Knight’s head tilted up a fraction, his eyes assessing her sincerity. One wrong move, Padmé knew, and she was dead.

Everything seemed to go silent, and while Padmé wasn’t anywhere near Force sensitive, she could feel the nervous anticipation in the air. She could feel the sweat rolling off her body, which came from the heat and her heartache. The tears streaming down her face stopped; her breath came in quiet gasps.

An abrupt pressure pressed on the front of her mind, and while her breath hitched, she didn’t make to resist. 

Her mind felt weird, like an invisible hand was sifting through her memories, playing them out in front of her eyes. One of the more recent ones came to the front of her mind.

_“When was the last time you saw him?” Obi-Wan asked._

_“Yesterday,” she replied._

_“Do you know where he is now?”_

_A pause._

_“No.”_

The presence withdrew from her mind. Anakin was lost in thought, looking off to the side. Padmé remained as still as she could, not wanting to set him off.

After what felt like lightyears, Anakin turned his eyes back to her. The blue pierced through her soul. 

His next words pierced her heart.

"What have I done?" An agonized whisper escaped his mouth.

Unbeknownst to the both of them, Obi-Wan watched as an ugly, black, misty ribbon slithered out of Anakin’s head and down toward the lava banks below. With each passing moment, it seemed, Anakin appeared more and more himself.

(His Force presence glowed now, and Obi-Wan was startled to realize that his padawan’s light had in fact dimmed. It had been so miniscule that the Jedi Master couldn’t find the difference in his apprentice until now.)

(Was this truly the same man that slaughtered the younglings?)

Almost as if he had sensed Obi-Wan’s thoughts, Anakin let out a mangled gasp as he pushed himself away from Padmé. 

“Get away from me!” He cried as he stumbled back from his wife. Her tears started again as she reached to comfort him.

“No, stay away! I can’t hurt you!” Anakin pleaded. He backed up, tripping over his feet. He stopped abruptly, fell to the ground, and grabbed his sides as he hunched over. A raging, yet mournful scream came from his mouth. He dragged his gaze to Obi-Wan, his face contorting with anguish, and his eyes begging for mercy.

“Master!” Anakin cried, sounding so much like the nine year old boy Obi-Wan raised. “Obi-Wan!”

Obi-Wan of a few minutes ago would have scoffed at that idea and challenged his apprentice.

Obi-Wan of the present moment, however, knew that he had to check Anakin’s mind.

He stepped forward, and Anakin flinched, fearful that Obi-Wan would harm him.

“Anakin,” the older man murmured, his hands raised slightly, "I need to see the truth. I will not hurt you.”

Obi-Wan pushed gently on their bond, which remained slammed shut on Anakin’s end.

“You promise?” the Fallen man whispered brokenly.

Obi-Wan nodded, “I promise.”

For the first time in three years, Anakin let down all of his shields. 

Obi-Wan pushed feelings of reassurance through the bond as he delved into Anakin's mind. Wading through countless emotions of guilt, anguish, and grief, the Master Jedi quickly found what he was looking for.

Anakin’s consecration of himself to the Dark Lord of the Sith. 

He saw everything through Anakin’s eyes - his pledge of allegiance, the gathering of the 501st, the march on the temple, the slaughtering of the Jedi, the destruction of the Separatists. He witnessed everything he had seen on the holo firsthand, and it made him want to weep for what was lost.

The memories, Obi-Wan noticed, were... murky and dulled, though. Every other memory Anakin had previously shared with Obi-Wan was always bright, always full of emotion. This, on the other hand...

Obi-Wan followed the trail of dark and murky memories, and while it first started out as the last day and a half, it started skipping around to Anakin’s visits with the Chancellor. These visits didn’t just span back to when the war began, they spanned back all the way to when Anakin was a padawan. He could see the first murky memory - Anakin was twelve years old, and on an errand with Palpatine too.

 _Force,_ Obi-Wan sorrowfully thought, _he’s been manipulating him since the beginning._

There was one more place the Force nudged Obi-Wan to go. 

He followed the trail the Force made in Anakin’s mind, willing for Obi-Wan to continue on despite the cold pressing in on every side. The will to keep on the path grew weaker and weaker as traveling through the mind of a broken man grew harder and harder. Whatever was at the end of this path didn’t want to be discovered. Maybe he should just leave his mind and think about wha-

There.

A gaping black hole left in the most inconspicuous part of Anakin’s mind.

This is what a dead bond looked like.

(Obi-Wan would know.)

He knew exactly who this bond belonged to. A swell of possessive fury threatened to overcome Obi-Wan before he dampened his feelings (mainly out of training, partly out of shame). How dare this Sith Lord try to steal his brother!

One rare fact about Force bonds between Master and Padawan is that one can influence the other, and not just in trivial matters either.

(If Master Qui-Gon used this to his advantage to get Obi-Wan to stop worrying every second of the day, well, Obi-Wan never acknowledged it.)

Obi-Wan left Anakin’s mind, breathing angrily. He turned away from the younger man, and fought the urge to yell. If he hadn’t searched Anakin’s mind, he would have never found out about the manipulation. He would have struck down the Jedi knight in an effort to prevent more damage to the galaxy from occurring. He would have been forced to kill his brother.

Palpatine had played them all for fools. 

Once he felt in control of his emotions, he turned back to Anakin. Padmé stood in the same spot, unmoving throughout the entire interaction between the two men. She moved her tear stricken face from her husband, who was shaking and silently weeping, to Obi-Wan, her brows pitifully lifted in a silent question.

_Is there any hope?_

Cautiously, Obi-Wan approached Anakin. The younger of the two men looked as if he was trying to fight back nausea as he stared at the landing platform. He felt Anakin’s weariness, hollowness, guilt, anguish, remorse, and self-hatred. Between all of these feelings, Obi-Wan was surprised that Anakin was still thinking somewhat rationally. 

The Jedi Master knelt down in front of the broken man. While nothing changed in Anakin’s appearance, Obi-Wan felt Anakin’s focus move to him.

He took in a deep breath.

“Anakin.”

The younger man whimpered.

_“Anakin.”_

At the mention of his name a second time, Anakin looked up. His eyes were red-rimmed, but they remained a steady blue.

Obi-Wan could have cried at the sight of those eyes.

“You had a Force bond with Palpatine. You’ve had it ever since you were twelve. He manipulated you into committing those acts of violence. He used you to kill those people. It is not your fault.”

Anakin started wailing, “But Master, I did it, I killed them!”

Obi-Wan hushed Anakin, reaching out to place his hands on the younger man’s shoulders. 

“Anakin, it was not you. You were programmed like the Separatist droids. They can’t do anything except follow their leader’s instructions. You could not help Palpatine controlling you.”

At this, Anakin lost any control he had over his crying. He reached out for Obi-Wan and grabbed the man’s tunic, searching for the comfort he experienced as a very young padawan. Obi-Wan, sensing this, pulled Anakin in toward him, latching onto him. 

The two men remained that way for a long time.

They finally broke away from one another when they heard Padmé approach. Her face had a fresh coat of tears, but Anakin could sense her overwhelming relief. He dared not go into her mind again.

“Ani...” she trailed off, for the first time unsure of herself. Was he himself again?

Anakin stood up and hesitantly made his way to his wife. His beautiful, healthy wife, who had never once lost her faith in him, in his compassion, his goodness.

The Jedi Knight knew from that moment on that he would never, ever, truly deserve her.

He reached out through the Force for their baby, who was safely tucked away within her womb. The life force within the baby was as strong as it had been, giving Anakin no cause for additional worry.

His flesh hand came to rest on Padmé’s womb. Anakin dared not bring himself any closer to her.

“Angel,” he rasped. 

A sob mixed with a laugh escaped Padmé as she brought herself closer to her husband. Her shaking hands came up to caress his face, and when he didn’t move away, she smiled.

Before either could speak, Obi-Wan interrupted.

“We must leave.” 

Both husband and wife looked to Obi-Wan, expecting further explanation.

Obi-Wan continued, “Palpatine will have sent troops to our location. When a Force bond breaks, it is felt immediately on both sides. We have to go before anyone else arrives.”

Anakin shakily nodded. 

Padmé, ever the pragmatist, asked, "Where will we go? The Emperor is in control of every planet within Republic and Separatist space. Practically nowhere is safe for all three of us."

Obi-Wan stroked his beard as he ran through a mental list of planets that promised potential. 

"I assume Tatooine is off the table?" 

Anakin visibly shuddered. "Yes, completely off the table."

"Then we shall head to Bogano," Obi-Wan stated with finality. 

"Where's that?" Anakin asked. "I've never heard of that planet before."

Obi-Wan started walking to the Nubian spacecraft, instinctively knowing the senator and fellow Jedi would follow. "Master Cordova shared his discovery of the planet with me once. He told me that the 'Force willed him to.' I never quite understood it at the time, but with our situation at hand, I can see now that the planet will be a safe haven for all of us."

The ramp of the ship closed as all three humans walked inside. R2 had miraculously found his way onto the ship (karking beloved little droid not following directions), so there was no need to stop to pick him up. 3PO picked up on his fussing within moments of spotting them. 

Obi-Wan turned to the both of them. "I need to call Master Yoda and inform him of these developments. We will more than likely meet up with Bail Organa and discuss further plans there."

Padmé and Anakin nodded, and both turned to go into the cockpit when-

"Anakin, a word?"

Turning around, Anakin followed Obi-Wan to the holo board. Padmé walked to the front of the ship, her mission to get themselves off of Mustafar underway. 

Once the door had closed between her and the two men, Obi-Wan hurriedly and abruptly pulled Anakin in for another hug. Though shocked by his usually stoic master's display of affection, Anakin returned the hug with equal fervor. 

The older of the two men murmured by Anakin's ear, "I don't know what I would have done if I had truly lost you."

Anakin didn't say anything, but he let his confusion slip across their bond. 

Obi-Wan continued, "I've lost so much this cycle. I don't know what I would have done if I'd lost you too."

Anakin squeezed Obi-Wan tighter. 

"You won't lose me, Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan sighed and pulled back from the hug. 

"I know," he said. "It doesn't make that thought any less frightening."

Obi-Wan moved silently while he readied the holo board for his call to Master Yoda. After all the preparations were complete, he glanced up to see Anakin. He seemed to fight a mental war in his head on what to say before he sighed, giving up any fight he had left within him. 

"You're my brother, Anakin," Obi-Wan spoke quietly. Anakin would have never caught his words had he not been paying attention. "I love you."

Anakin met his master's gaze steadily, overwhelmingly calm. He had learned over the years that when Obi-Wan was this vulnerable, he had to be repaid with that same vulnerability. 

"As you are mine, Obi-Wan."

Anakin made his way to the door, and right before the sensors kicked in to let him out, he turned his head to catch a glimpse of his brother in everything but name and blood.

"I love you too."

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed Anakin not being an idiot and actually surviving his Fall. I know I certainly enjoyed writing it!
> 
> For those that need an explanation, the black, misty ribbon is Anakin's Force bond with Palpatine. In my own headcanon, Palpatine heavily manipulated Anakin into doing what he did, and therefore controlled him, like the droids are by the Separatists. I feel that Obi-Wan needed to see something physically change in order for him to doubt his mission to kill Darth Vader, so adding this part in gave Obi-Wan his chance to avoid killing off his brother. 
> 
> Questions? Comments? Feedback? Let me know below!


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